The Ransoming of a Kunoichi
by Hizumi the Ninja
Summary: When Ayame finds out that a man asking about a Power Stone is around Londo, she gets the feeling something is up. And in the process, she ends up in the hands of an enemy she thought everyone had seen the last of.
1. Ayame's Folly

She wasn't sure how he got the drop on her, but it happened. Rather suddenly, in fact. Everything happened so fast, she couldn't keep up, and it overwhelmed her. But how did this incident begin? It's a long story...

It all began in the town of Londo. A cozy, friendly town filled with good people, good places, good scenery, and good food, a somewhat wondrous city with a favor for technology. It was also the hometown of her friend, Edward Falcon, who she respected as a fellow fighter and as a pilot. She had gone to Londo to participate in the festival that was coming up soon, and figured it might be a good time to make some extra money on the side with her performances. And in the meantime, she was looking forward to all the spectacular wonder of said technology of the country, as such things were practically nonexistent in the one she hailed from... how excited was she, to be here the day before the festival, the sort of celebration she loved and would get legitimately excited about. Her guardian had let her go on the condition she keep up her training as much as possible, which somewhat agitated her, as she wanted to play and look around rather than commit to any serious work right now, given the events to take place the following day.

As she was going around and exploring the town, she overheard a few people talking a man who was rudely asking where a Power Stone may be found to various people, claiming him 'gruff' and 'towering', and yet laughing about him, as they believed Power Stones were nothing but a myth, a legend... she knew they were real, but telling people about them is a useless venture, and besides, proving they were real to just anyone would be a stupid idea. Overwhelmed with suspicion, she set off to look for him...

What is a Power Stone, you ask? It is a very powerful and legendary jewel said to bestow great power to anyone who possesses it. It's unknown what that power may be exactly, as there are very few records detailing it. If enough are gathered together, who knows what possibilities could happen. They say they can even make wishes come true. But again, as mentioned, only a scant few know that they are real. Most of the people here in the world believe it all as a tale you exchange around bars and children.

Her name was Ayame, a kunoichi from the city of Odeo, who was always on the lookout to find a stone or two. She always wore her a yellow-cloud-patterned green and white trim robe with long dangling sleeves which was held tight by a large sash tied around the waist, the rest of which revealing her legs, red tape around her arms and legs, red gloves, and sandals. She kept her blue hair tied up in a large bun in the back, held together with a gold headband and matching pins. She was a cute young woman with brown eyes, and would be fast approaching her 20s.

But back about the man. When she lost him among the crowds, she did some digging up, asking non-conspicuous questions and using her looks to at least tug at some heartstrings to get some of the more stubborn people to divulge what they knew. Ayame picked up only a few small hints from people here and there until she came across a discussion going on between a few suspicious people in an antique store. She snuck inside, overhearing a conversation going on. She swiftly hid herself from view behind the shadows of a staircase that led upstairs and lent an ear. There he was. The man she had been tailing all this time...

"Listen, old man..." A large, burly man wearing a coat and wide-brimmed hat said, cracking his knuckles, his large hands surrounded in the white gloves he wore, and growling in a threatening voice, "...I know your granddaughter sent it to you for safekeeping when she found it. The Power Stone I'm looking for. Tou _will_ give it to me. Otherwise, I won't spare you any expense. We've made our messages clear to you already, and your senile attitude is only making it worse."

"You can threaten me all you like! You've already broke some of the stuff in my store twice now... third time isn't a charm!" yelled an old man in red robes with a long white beard that nearly touched the floor. Apparently this person's granddaughter highly trusted this man if he really had such a thing in his possession.

"Maybe for you, it's not. But if I have to get things through to you, then, heck, yes, it's worth it for me," the man snarled, threatening the old man some more, "And if that doesn't work, perhaps I have to break some fingers to make you understand. Hmm, maybe I should pay a visit to your wife who is in the hospital right now, recovering from that mishap she had downtown." He then chucked wickedly, "Maybe I should pay another visit to that cute little granddaughter of yours who runs that item shop? You know... the redhead with the freckles? It was she I found out about that Power Stone from."

"Y-you...! How dare you!"

"Hahahaha! You know where you stand, you old duff. You're in no position to make demands or deny me what I want. Just give it to me."

"And you think you can bully me around?"

"Boys?"

Ayame watched from behind the doorframe as the two men's thugs, both also wearing coats, began to smash various objects and antiques in the store. Some of them seemed very old, probably from 30 or 40 years ago. The old man cried out and begged them to stop as they wrecked the various items in the store.

"Well?" The burly man asked, "Do you talk, or will your family have to suffer next?"

"FINE!" The old man then cried, defeated, "Fine, have it your way... I'll talk. I already gave it away."

"Wh... WHAT!"

"I gave it to a beautiful and exotic young woman who was asking about it... she claimed to be from Mahdad, and was looking for a Power Stone she heard I had. She told me she desperately needed it, and that she knew my granddaughter closely... she proved it herself, and I couldn't say no. So I gave it to her..."

"...you...!" The burly man angrily clinched his fists together, quaking in fury, "...you gave it to her? Stupid old man!" In his anger, he lashed out, and destroyed an antique painting to his left, making the old man cry out, "Grrrr! Where is this woman now? What is her name?"

"Sh-she should still be here in Londo... there's a festival coming here soon... she said she planned to take part in it this week when it starts... she said her name was Rouge..."

"For your sake, she better be there. And you will tell _no one_ about what we talked about today... otherwise you are gonna pay dearly... your cute little granddaughter too. I'll send you her head when I get ahold of her, I promise you that."

"N-no...! I won't say a word... I promise..."

"I'm glad you were at least cooperative today. If you were this way earlier, things might have been less unfortunate for you."

With that, the three men left. Ayame saw her chance, and quietly and quickly began tailing them without being seen. So Rouge is here in Londo? She figured as much... the festival would be a good opportunity for Rouge to make some money fortune-telling so that she could continue travelling. Even adventurers can't adventure when they have no money in their pockets. There was something about that burly man that seemed familiar, but she couldn't get a look at his face, as it was hidden in the shadows of the hat he wore.

The little kunoichi followed them all the way into an apartment building which sat at one of the areas in town, just behind a marketplace. There, the three men climbed a rickety staircase about three flights up before their boss produced a key, inserted it into the keyhole, and unlocked the door. One of his cronies opened the door, and the burly man entered with the other cohort... the last man looked around cautiously before heading inside. He didn't even see Ayame. Then again, that was because she took a different route inside... she simply jimmied a window open, and crawled in through there into the bedroom of the apartment they were staying... she gently and quietly cracked the door open and watched as his thugs sat at a table.

"It's okay, boss... we can work this out, right?" One of the goons said, as the burly man removed his hat and coat and hanged them up on a coatrack, "I mean, that chick's still gotta be around in the town somewhere."

"Somewhere is not good enough," the burly man growled. He was quite muscular, tall... a tanned complexion, and with short blond hair that was spiked upwards. Aside from the white gloves he wore which had studded bracelets on them, he wore blue jeans with large yellow bolts on each side, and around his waist was a gun belt, with bullets, and a gun firmly in it's holster. He also had on black leather boots which also had studs around the ends of them. He was wearing a white shirt which looked like it might rip at any second due to his bulk, and around his neck he wore a necklace which had a small stone attached to it which rested against his chest.

As he turned to face the men, his face was revealed... a chiseled, frightening face, with red eyes and fanged teeth. The face of a man who threw his humanity aside and became a devil. Ayame recognized him immediately from a previous encounter or two. His name was Valgas, a former wrestler who had a very impressive career in the ring. However, he had always longed for power, and the glory he received during his tenure in the sport was not enough. He wished to have the Power Stones, as many as he could get, so he could have ultimate power.

_Valgas...!_ she gasped in her mind, _I should have known... but I thought he was dead?_

At one time, Valgas set off to find them all himself. He nearly succeeded, too. The incident, however, erupted into an erratic chaos that even he couldn't control, and when it was over, everyone thought he had perished... but his presence here and now dispels that. And unfortunately, none of the others who were involved in that battle for the stones know that he's alive.

"_Somewhere_ will not tell us where Rouge is," Valgas snarled, "I must have that Power Stone!"

"Ea-easy, boss, easy. Maybe we can ask around the town. I'm sure someone's seen her wandering around the town."

"You'd better pray they have. That woman eluded me once before. She will _not_ get away again," Valgas then sat at the table, pulling away the chair before sitting into it and folding his arms across his chest, "Of course, we need to make sure 'he' won't get involved either."

"You mean that Falcon dude, right?"

"Right. He might be a fly boy all the time, always out on an adventure to find his father and all, but I'm not leaving it up the chance. Everybody gets homesick eventually," he huffed, "If he ever finds out I'm alive... nngh, I haven't even fully recovered yet..."

"Why don't we just kill the woman? We could snipe her from afar, and..."

"Hmph. We could, couldn't we," Valgas rubbed his chin in thought for a moment, "but we'd have to get her to a secluded spot away from prying eyes. We couldn't very well kill her in public, obviously. And she's very careful and smart. We'd have to strike her when she least expects it and do it quickly and as cleanly as we can."

Ayame leaned in a little more. As her weight shifted forward a little against the door she was next to, the door also creaked a little, attracting the attention of the baddies. Valgas rose his hand to pause the conversation, as he thought he saw someone out the corner of his eye, "someone's here," he softly said.

"...!" Ayame's eyes widened. She had to get out of there quickly. Maybe Valgas was seeing and hearing things. Maybe if she kept quiet, and quietly slipped out like the wind, she could get away, and warn Rouge about Valgas... she quietly moved away from the door and began to head toward the window she left open.

But in a flash, Valgas immediately got up, knocking the chair over as he did so, and dashed toward the open door, "I can see you!" he yelled. Before Ayame could get to the window, the door was kicked violently open and Ayame, in her hurry, scrambled so she could attempt to leap into the opening. Before she could, however, Valgas took advantage of her fumbling and ran forth and swung his fist hard toward her body. He managed to clock the poor girl clean in the abdomen, causing her to fall to the side away from the window.

She then struggled to get up and reached into her robe to quickly throw a shuriken at her attacker, but Valgas was quick to react, kicking the weapon out of her hand and across the room. "You think you'll stop me with your toys, kid?" He laughed, lunging for her. Ayame quickly recovered her composure to strike him in the gut, catching him off guard for a moment. However, this only made him angry. Ayame realized that if she wanted to get out of here, she had to fight! Valgas' goons came in just then and one of them fired a warning shot... the bullet of which whizzed by her right ear, the surprise of the bang and how close it came to hitting her shaking the girl off her guard.

This was all the opportunity Valgas needed, and his experience as a fighter gave him a good sense as to when a window of opportunity presented itself. He quickly closed in, and swung another hard right hook into her, and this time it struck her true in the temple. Ayame gasped as the blow hit her so hard it threw her across the room and she landed with a dull thud against the wall. As she slid down onto her rear, she was beginning to lose consciousness from the impact, and she let out a soft groan as her attacker stepped in her fading view as she weakly held her head up with her ebbing strength...

Which brings us to what's happening now. What transpired that made Ayame wonder just how she could have let this happen.

She couldn't believe how Valgas got the upper hand on her so quickly and efficiently. Perhaps it was her own fault for underestimating him; while he was at his weakest, he proved to still have enough strength and agility to take her off her guard and overwhelm her.

"Spying on me was the biggest mistake of your life," Valgas snarled, then laughed, just before Ayame lowered her head back down with a small sigh, and let gravity take over, her body sliding off to the side and to the floor. "Boys? We'll have to deal with our little guest..." Valgas then laughed as she collapsed. And after hearing those words, Ayame groaned, closed her eyes and let her consciousness slip away from her, and her world became enveloped in darkness.


	2. Ransom Demands

Ayame didn't wake until some time later... the blow to her head didn't keep her out for _too_ long, but it was sufficient enough. Possibly for an hour or less. And the first thing that came to her was a sharp pain she kept feeling from that blow to her skull earlier, which would take a while before it stopped aching. But that wasn't what made her stir. Rather, what woke her was the sound of a conversation going on nearby...

"...that's all swell, but boss... what are we gonna do with the kid? She's been listening in on us, she knows what we're up to and everything. And if she gets away—"

"Shut up! Shut up before I belt you in the mouth," Valgas's voice growled in frustrated tone, "At least she won't be giving us any headaches right now."

Ayame let out a soft moan just then... the moan sounded rather muffled.

"Mmmmm..." she could feel her head aching from that earlier hit... she shook her head a little to try and clear the dizziness away.

"It irks me that this kid was snooping on me," Valgas then says, then thinks for a moment, "hmmm, but I think we can figure out what we can do with her. It'll be too bothersome if we dispose of her at the moment. In fact, she could be of some use."

Ayame opened her eyes and began to scan the area... she felt too weak to move at the moment, still reeling from that fist that hit her. She was still in the apartment, apparently, from what she had seen. She shifted a bit when she felt enough strength return to try and move, only to find that her arms wouldn't budge... she looked down at herself, and found herself bound up tight with strong, sturdy coils of rope that wrapped around her frame and held it tightly, with additional rope tied above and below her chest as they were cinched in-between to around her arms to keep them pinned closely to her body, her forearms tightly secured in a box-like formation behind her back. Her legs had been trussed up as well in four places; at the ankles, above and below the knees, and at the thighs, with extra rope to cinch them tightly together.

To keep her from making any noise and crying out, her mouth was stuffed with some cloth, and a larger, additional one had been pulled and tied over her nose and mouth, double-knotted tight behind her head too, all to hold it in her mouth and to keep her speech and noise to a minimum. She was so well-gagged that she could hardly utter a sound, and couldn't work it off simply by moving her head around.

"Mmmmmh... mmffff..." Ayame, once fully awake, began to tug and squirm in her binds, grunting softly into her gag as she fought, but found it very difficult to move. She had been secured to a chair to further restrict her movements and prevent her from going anywhere by hopping away, as well as to make it harder for her to fight back in her position and weigh her down.

"Boss, the girl's awake..." One of the men said, having heard her moans and looked over to see their struggling captive.

"Is she, now?" Valgas stepped over to the awaken heroine. As he stepped over to observe her, Ayame gave him a piercing glare, followed by some unintelligible mumbling and growling. He would then laugh at her tauntingly, "Trying to look brave? Your spunk's admirable, but unrewarding."

"Mmmmmmm!"

"Heh... let the little girl talk."

One of Valgas's boys removed the cloth gag from her mouth. Following this, Ayame would push the cloth stuffed in her mouth out and let it fall onto her lap. She coughs for a moment before she looks up at them, glaring at all three of her captors, and frowning at them before letting out a defiant shout, "You won't get away with this!"

"Ughhh, I hate that old, tired line! Why do heroes always have to say that, it's so cliché," the demonic-looking man grumbled, folding his arms with a sneer, "It's the most irritating thing to hear next to 'you fiend'. Can't you people come up with better material?"

"What are you talking about? It was the best thing I could think of to say," Ayame asked, sweatdropping, then, changed the subject, "What are you gonna do with Rouge?"

"And why should I tell a brat like you what I'm planning on doing to her when you've already heard too much as it is? When you already know what we're going to do, hmm? You should have just stayed home, performing parlor tricks for the children with your ragtag family."

Ayame squirmed around in her binds, her gaze not turning away from her captor, and a little insulted that he called her family 'ragtag'. She decided to let it slide for now, as there was more important matters, "What are you gonna do with _me_, then?" she then asked.

"I'm already thinking of a few possibilities. I'd like to kill you off here and now, because personally, I find you annoying. But, no, I've got a better idea. Maybe on the side, I can make you suffer, just for fun," Valgas then grinned evilly, that frightening ear-to-ear smile stretching along the width of his face, "I know the perfect way to get Rouge to cooperate with me: You, miss ninja, are going held for ransom."

"R-ransom?"

"Yes, a ransom. You and her know each other, do you not? Even if you don't, it doesn't matter; I think she'll cooperate when she learns of the situation you are in. And the asking price will be the Power Stone she got from that old goat. If she doesn't agree to my demands, well... I guess I can have some fun with you. I could start by breaking both your arms and legs in a few places. That could be a lot of fun."

"You...! Don't you dare touch me! If you hurt me, there's gonna be trouble!"

"HA! Somehow, I doubt it. To get the message through to her, I'll take whatever steps I need to."

"And what are you gonna do if she gives you what you want? Are you really gonna let me go if she cooperates? And what if she doesn't agree? What will you do then?"

"Mmm, you know what? You ask far too many questions all at once. It's reminding me why I hate kids," Valgas then nodded to his two cronies, who headed over to the chair that held the captured kunoichi, "for now, make yourself comfortable. You're going to be here for quite a while.

Georgi. Caprio. Go ahead and shut her back up before she can get noisy."

One man grabbed the wad of cloth and held it up to Ayame's lips, who defiantly turned her head and resisted. Eventually the man quickly got tired of her uncooperative behavior and pinched her nostrils shut, forcing her to have to breathe in through her mouth. Seeing his chance, he stuffed the wad of cloth into her mouth despite her garbled protests and the other man retied the gag tight over her nose and mouth, knotting it tightly behind her head once again. After it was fastened back into place, Ayame would squirm and move her head around to try and work off her gag, though it was a futile attempt.

"Mmmmm!" She cried into the gag, "Mmmf, mmmnnnnm, nngh, mmmmmh! Nnnffh, gmnnn!"

Valgas then turns to his cohorts, "We need to find out where Rouge is staying. We'll be placing a call. One she'll _have_ to take," he then turns to Ayame, cupping her chin in his hand so that he could look in her in the eyes, "if she wants her friend here to keep breathing."

"...!" Ayame's eyes widened as she heard that... did he really plan to kill her if Rouge didn't cooperate in the end? Did he mean it when he said he was going to hurt her? Ayame was used to danger, given the adventures she had usually embarked on when not performing, but she had never landed in a situation like this. Frankly, she didn't know what to do... she was scared. Scared of what Valgas may do to her, and what he might do to Rouge.

Valgas saw this, and his grin turned even more sinister. He loved it when his victims showed fear... when he took on foes weaker than he was back during his wrestling days, it made him happy just seeing their bravery turn to dust in the wind once they realized his prowess, what he was capable of doing... and seeing this girl with such a frightened expression, it made him feel as though his day improved a little.

Maybe today _will_ be a good day after all... and if everything works out, it'll be even better.

* * *

Some time has passed since... in another part of Londo, an exotic-looking woman was in the shower in the bathroom of the apartment she was temporarily staying at. Her body's silhouette the only thing visible behind the shower curtain as she cleaned herself up, humming a blissful tune from her homeland, steam from the warm water rising up from behind it. She then sighed in satisfaction as she finished showering and turned the water off. The woman then reached a wet arm out to grasp at one of the towels neatly folded and draped around a rack placed on the wall, just above the toilet. She then pulled it in, and proceeded to dry off.

A little time of drying off later, she grabbed her bathrobe, secured it around her, and left the bathroom. The woman was quite beautiful. Comparable to a queen or a princess, with tanned skin, brown eyes, and a pretty face, along with long brown hair in the back, one part of her hair in front folding neatly over one side of her face and hiding an eye. Just from one glance of her, even though she was not in her proper clothes, you could tell she had a mysterious and unique aura around her that gave her a unique sense of charm.

"Ah... what a refreshing shower. It felt good to shower after it took me so long to get here," the woman said with a smile as she headed to the bedroom. However, she stopped in the middle of that, when she heard the sounds of someone moving through something. Her eyes narrowed and she tensed up... someone was in here. But who?

_Did someone come in while I was showering? _She thought, creeping toward the noise, _I could have sworn I locked the door..._

The sounds were coming from the kitchen... it sounded like someone was shifting around things inside the refrigerator and sneaking around the cupboards... she quietly approached closer to the source of the sound, and found there was a man sneaking around there. However, she immediately recognized him just by seeing him from behind...

"...what the...?"

The man then turned around to face her, hearing her. He was a slightly lanky man, dressed like a cowboy—blue pants and a matching vest with a purple long-sleeved shirt underneath, cowboy boots, a gunbelt with two holsters with two guns, a small and raggedy, torn cape around his upper body, and a blue cowboy hat. Around his eyes he wore a red mask that hid half of a scar on the left side of his face, and a mop of dusty, unkempt blond hair...

"Howdy, ma'am!" The man laughed, cheerfully holding a can of fruit soda, "Nice to see ya!"

With a loud _THWACK_, the man soon found himself on the floor, a large bump growing out of his head and smoking from the impact of her fist.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" she yelled, glaring at him angrily, "Don't you know better than to intrude on a woman's privacy?"

"Ow ow ow, s-sorry, ma'am! Sorry, sorry..." The man then sat up, hanging his head apologetically as he sat on his knees and hands, almost touching his forehead to the floor, "I was just visiting..."

This particular man's name was Accel. A cowboy Rouge met one day during a previous adventure some time ago with some familiar faces... quite a fighter, this man was. A sneaky guy, too... though a good fellow at heart.

"If you were just visiting as you say, you could have just rung the doorbell," she scolded at him.

"Haha, yeah, sorry about that, Miss Rouge."

"Please, just call me Rouge," The woman then said, who, apparently enough, is the very Rouge of our current story, despite being in her bathrobe right now, "You don't necessarily have to be formal around me."

"A man's got to show courtesy to beautiful women," Accel said as he stood up, smiling at her, "But since you said please, I can make an exception."

"How did you get in here, Accel? I locked the door, didn't I?"

"Well, yeah, you did, but you see, I picked your lock," he then smiled, "You know that little ninja girl I met during that scuffle in Dr. Erode's castle some time ago?"

"Hm. Ayame, you mean?"

"Yea, that's the one... she taught me how to pick locks!" He then coolly folded his arms across his chest, smiling, "To be honest, this was the first time I actually had the chance to try out what I learned... and it really worked! Not bad for a first-timer, wouldn't you agree?"

Rouge would then slam her fist so hard into Accel again that it would throw him face down to the floor!

"DON'T BE SO PROUD OF IT IN THIS CASE!" she yelled.

"S-sorry," mumbled Accel with his face in the floor.

"What are you doing here in Londo, anyway?" Rouge then asked as Accel climbed back up to his feet, "Did you come for the festival too?"

"Huh? Festival?" he blinked, "There's a festival going on?"

"Yes."

"Well, no, not particularly, but hey, I'll join in the fun," he then said, grinning again, "Truth be told, ma'am, I flew here by balloon. You see, there were these rough n' tough guys I made a bet with in a bar, and they lost that bet. Rather than just paying me what they owed, they chained me up to a hot-air balloon and let me loose in the skies!"

"But that's what happened the last time," Rouge cried, "and the time before that, and that one other time!"

"Haha, good memory!"

"That's not something you should be so cheerful about," Rouge said, giving him a rather cross look.

Just then, the phone rang, interrupting the conversation. Rouge blinked for a moment, her attention taken away from the cowboy as that loud ringing echoed through the apartment. She then looked over to Accel, "Excuse me for a moment. I suppose you can go ahead and make yourself at home... for now."

"Sure thing, ma'am." Accel then sat in a nearby chair and leaned against it, balancing himself on the chair and against the wall with his feet up on the table.

Rouge would approach the phone, which sat on the kitchen counter. Taking ahold of it and raising it off it's hook, she held it up to the side of her head to speak into it, "Hello?"

"...is this Rouge?"

"...yes? Who is this?"

"Hmhmhmhm... you don't need to know who I am. I know what you're thinking... how'd I get this number? I did a little asking around."

_That voice... _Rouge thought, listening carefully to who was talking on the other end of the phone. It sounded very familiar to her... discomfortingly familiar. This couldn't be a prank call. If it was, it wasn't a very funny one. She decided to play along just to see where this was going, "Very well, then. What is it you want?"

Accel looked over to Rouge as he twirled his gun around his fingers, listening to her curiously.

"Heh. Well, first, I want you to listen to someone you know," the man said, before there was a temporary silence. Just then, Rouge heard a muffled voice crying out into the speaker. When she heard it, her blood ran cold for a moment.

"Mmmmmmmmnn!"

_It... couldn't be. Ayame...?_

"...mmmf! Rmmmj, hllllp!"

The speaker was then pulled away from the girl on the other end, and the man on the line resumed talking, "Hmmm, she seems to know you after all. Heheh. It's cute, isn't it? The way she's begging for you to come and rescue her..."

"Why have you kidnapped Ayame?"

Upon hearing that, Accel gently lowered his chair back down to the floor and listened in intensely, eyes widening. Was there some kind of trouble? Did something terrible happen to Ayame?

"Kidnapped? Not really. Rather, she came to us. I have her with me right now," The man laughed for a moment, only for his voice to turn stern, "now, Rouge... I want you to listen up. I heard an old man gave you a Power Stone. Don't try to lie to me or tell me different. And I hope you still have it, too, because you'll need it if you want to see her again. Alive. Got it?"

"Yes."

"Good, good. Now then. _Do_ you still have it?" He asked slowly.

"...I do."

"Excellent. If you didn't, you would have been in a lot of trouble. I want you to bring me that Power Stone. No tricks, you understand? Don't try to pull a fast one on me, like making a fake and then bringing it to me. It won't work, I can guarantee that," he told the gypsy, "I want you to come to the clock tower here in town later today. You know which one that is, right? The tall one..." he then turned away from the phone for a moment, and she could hear him speaking to one of his cronies, "...hey, what was that thing called again?"

"Uh, Big Bill, boss.

And the mystery man promptly turned back to the phone, "Big Bill. That's the one. Sits in the middle of Londo. You can't miss it. On the top floor. 7 o' clock, tonight, got that? No sooner, no later. And furthermore, I want you to come _alone_. No friends, and don't call the police. Otherwise, the girl dies. Maybe horribly, if I feel violent enough."

"If you've hurt her..."

"Heh, relax. She's not hurt. Yet. Remember the stipulations of this exchange. Don't try to be a hero, understand? We'll see you there in a few hours."

With that, there was the tone of a hanged phone echoing through Rouge's ear. Afterwards, she slowly placed the phone back on its hook. Accel, who had been listening to Rouge, remained frozen for a moment before he finally broke the eerie silence between them, "Hey. Rouge? What's wrong? What happened?"

"Sorry, Accel, can we talk about this later? It's pretty dire."

"Sure sounded like it. Need any help?"

"No, not really. You may as well get back on your way, alright?" she then asked, "we both have our things to do."

"Alone? What's this about? You're acting rather erratic all of a su—"

Rouge would then start pushing Accel out the door, and once he was past the door, she shut and locked it securely behind him before he could wheel around to face it! "Sorry, can't talk now, maybe la~ter~"

"Rouge! Hey wait! C'mon, be a pal!" He moaned... then he scratched his head, turning away from the door as he worriedly looked up at the ceiling, "...what in Sam Hill is going on here? Whatever it was, it sure had Rouge rattled... hmmmmm."

Accel had a thought, and with that thought, he decided to head off, heading down the hallway. Given that Rouge said that Ayame was kidnapped, and was refusing his aid, it didn't take too long for him to piece what was going on.

"Well, shoot..." he frowned, "...this is pretty bad."


	3. Surprise Guest

In the few hours that transpired, Ayame was removed from her chair and held at gunpoint as her captors drove her to a new location; the one chosen for the exchange, Big Bill, the prized clock tower of Londo, and one of their key landmarks, along with the Aslondic Temple and the Bucker Palace. In order to help her get around, they untied her legs, though Valgas told her it would only be temporary, as they forced her over to a coach. Unfortunately for Ayame, he was none too gentle with her. When they first got to the vehicle, he roughly stuffed her into the trunk of the coach and locked it up. It wasn't comfortable. It was cramped, even for her, and she felt like she was suffocating throughout the long trip. The fact she was kept bound and gagged didn't help, with the heavy gag making it hard to breathe, and seemed to only add to the heat she was feeling, causing her to sweat as captors drove through Londo.

The drive seemed to take forever. She thought for sure she might pass out at some point. Eventually, after what felt like an eternity, she felt the car come to a stop. The baddies checked around to make sure no one was around as they exited their vehicle. The coast was clear, no one in sight. Regardless, the gang of three swiftly opened up the trunk and draped a hooded and caped cloak around her to hide her appearance, and forced their captive inside as quickly as possible so that they wouldn't be seen, keeping a low profile as they went through. Even a tower like Big Bill had to be manned and looked after now and then.

Right now, Ayame was on the top floor with her captors, a floor filled with constantly-turning gears and cogs of gigantic proportions that quietly kept this massive clock tower running all day, every day. This time, Ayame was kept bound up to a support beam, secured standing hand and foot to it so that she couldn't go anywhere.

The robes were cast aside, since no one saw them come here or would be coming. Additionally, since there weren't many people who could hear her from up here, they left her ungagged this time around, as long as she promised to keep quiet and not be a nuisance, and Ayame knew it was unwise to provoke her captors at this juncture. Despite this, it didn't stop the fact that Ayame's body, having spent so much time in those ropes that held her, was beginning to ache, her muscles tired from all the struggling she had done in her bonds to try and get free... she tried a little more to attempt to free herself, but it didn't work out so well, and the pain and fatigue set in once again, sufficiently weakening her attempts to work at her binds.

_If only I had taken those rope escape lessons like my brother told me to, I probably wouldn't be in this mess..._ she thought, stopping after her weak effort. She sighed, and looked around the mechanical surroundings for a moment before her gaze turned to Valgas, sitting in a folding chair, who was reading a comic book, which was about a purple-haired goddess in a red bikini going on adventures. There was some time to get some answers... if he'd be willing to tell her.

"...um..." she hesitantly said, trying to get his attention, "Hey, you. Valgas..." he then turned his head to her, "...how did you survive?"

"Survive?" he looked up from his comic book to give her his attention.

"Yeah... didn't you die?"

"...hmph," he then shook his head, "I don't know if I really want to bother telling you or not."

"Aww, come on... I wanna know. Pleaaaaaase~?" she asked with a honeyed voice just then. All this got from Valgas was a frown of disgust.

"Don't try to be cute with me, squirt," he gruffly said to her, "I'm still not in much of a mood to listen to your voice right now. I told you before that I find you annoying. Get the hint?"

She then pouts, puffing up her cheeks, turning her head away, "You're so mean."

"Kid, I'm evil. Evil guys aren't exactly goody-two-shoes."

"And quit calling me 'kid' or 'squirt'! I have a name... it's Ayame."

"I really don't care what your name is," he sighed, turning his attention back to his book, "Now shut up already. If you keep talking, I'll have you gagged again."

Ayame sighed and looked off to the side, pouting again_. I still can't believe he's alive... I thought that after that first time, when he became that freaky monster, and when Falcon defeated him, he was gone for good, _she thought to herself again.

A little while later, one of Valgas's men spotted something as he was watching from the window of the tower with a pair of binoculars they bought on the way to the tower. He was ordered to watch out for Rouge in case she was approaching via flight. And there she was in the sky, soaring through the air on a magical flying carpet. He then turned to Valgas, "Boss!" he said, "Rouge's approaching!"

"Hm, already?" Valgas tossed the comic book over his shoulder, "She better have brought the Power Stone." He then grins evilly at Ayame, "she knows what will happen if she doesn't."

Ayame gulps. She was nervous, not sure if she wanted to know what Valgas might do to her. She hoped Rouge would pull through... or at least be safe in the end.

Rouge was dressed in her usual attire, a light blue midriff with a pair of purple silk pants, held to her waist by a pink belt with a knife attached to it in a holster. She had her hair tied into tight braided ponytail in the back with a gold heart-shaped hairpiece on the end. She was also wearing A white headband with a red jewel in the middle, white and gold-trim gloves and a brown and gold-trim scarf around her neck that draped along her back. Basically an outfit she was almost always known for wearing.

She then moved the carpet so it could dive gently toward the ground in front of Big Bill, heading to the entrance of the tower, and leapt off her magic carpet before using magic to make it disappear for a moment. She then looked up—way up—at the massive clock tower... _I hope Ayame's safe,_ she thought, before heading inside, taking with her a large bag with something pulsing inside every now and then with a blue glow... before she headed into the building, she looked over her shoulder and let brown eyes scan the area for a moment, as if having the feeling she was being followed.

The other man working for Valgas was there at the lobby near the elevators, waiting for her. He would greet her as she approached, "Rouge, right? And you brought the Power Stone, yes?"

Rouge nodded, "that's right. I'm her," she then held up the glowing object in the bag, "And yes, it's right here."

The man grinned an ugly smile, "The boss has been waiting for you. Come with me, dollface."

"Don't call me 'dollface'," she said with an insulted frown, "Just take me where your boss is..."

"Come with me," the henchman said as he hit the button to bring an elevator down to their level.

* * *

And thusly, Rouge was brought upstairs to the highest floor of the massive clock tower. As the elevator doors slowly swung open, she stepped out along with the goon, who secretly kept his gun drawn and hidden in his trenchcoat in case she tried anything daring. As she looked around among the room of many gears of various shapes and sizes, she recognized a familiar form some distance away...

"Rouge-chan!" the captive Ayame gasped, looking over to her when she saw her, "Thank the kami, you came!"

"Ayame! Ah, good, you are safe," Rouge then smiled, sighing a little in relief. The man then grasped Rouge's shoulder and pushed her onwards.

"Get movin'."

Rouge shot him a glare before walking over to Ayame's side. She could see that there was someone half in the shadows, his features hidden as she approached. Those pants with the bolt pattern seemed familiar, "...I brought you the stone," she then said, holding it up.

"Show it," the shadowed man said.

Rouge then opened up the bag, pulling on the drawstring. The cloth unfolded, and revealed the brilliant and amazingly beautiful blue gem that shone brightly, a diamond-shaped stone that had a brilliant radiance about it. Even every sparkle that glinted from it had a feel of power to it. As it glowed, the stone around the man's neck also glowed brightly, nearly revealing his face as it shone... as if reacting to the Power Stone she held. Apparently, it had a connection to the stones, allowing him to tell where it is when in a close enough proximity and if it was the real deal.

"Nuahahahahaa! Excellent, excellent... apparently, it really is the real thing. You have done well."

"Now, reveal yourself. Who are you?" Rouge spoke.

"I may as well..." the man stepped out of the shadows. Rouge gasped when she saw him, eyes wide when she recognized that it was Valgas...

"You... you're Valgas... aren't you? But it can't be... you died on Avalon Island after—"

"After my defeat at the hands of Falcon?" Valgas spat, "I plan to make him pay in due time. That fight was a fluke! But right now, I need your Power Stone. Give it to me," excited for the power, he reached out with those massive hands of his towards the stone... but Rouge pulled it away, creating distance between them, which bemused him.

"I want some answers," Rouge told him, glaring at him, "Are you really Valgas? And if you are, how did you survive after being turned into a beast?"

"Hah. Fine," Valgas then grinned as he proceeded to explain, "Yes, it's indeed the real me. 100 percent pure Valgas, no substitutes. And as for how I survived... well, I feel better telling you than the bratty kid over there."

"Hey, I take offense to that," Ayame grumbled.

"As far back as I can recall..." Valgas said, beginning his story, "...I believe I did die. Yes, I remember well... you and your friends were there when the Power Stones all absorbed into me. I lost control of my body, and I went through a dramatic metamorphosis... I lost all thought and control but I could see and experience everything, like as if I were locked in my own personal purgatory.  
But anyways... after Falcon crushed me, I began losing my strength... perhaps this was what death was like. What a waste, I thought... I didn't get to rule the world like I wanted to. The Power Stones burst from me to who knows where, as I'm sure you recall.  
But there was that one last stone that was inside me... yes... the Dark Stone. The most powerful stone of them all, hmhm."

"The Dark Stone?" Rouge then asked, with Ayame listening in, "...that's right. The stone everyone thought had been destroyed..."

"It was still inside me that whole time. As I died, I prayed and wished that I could have a second chance," Valgas explained further, "I wanted another shot. I wanted revenge. I still wanted ultimate power! The chance to become the king of the world!" He clinched his fists tightly, gritting his fanged teeth, "...I was desperate. I really thought this was the end, but then, I heard a voice..."

"...?"

Valgas strained his mind for a moment, trying to think back... "...this voice, it spoke to me as I was on the brink of death, feeling my life force slipping away. I don't remember what it said, however. Something about 'you still have a role to play'...  
When I awoke, I found myself among the ruins of the island, back to normal, as you can see. But the Dark Stone was nowhere to be found. I was once again at square one, and my body was still suffering from the injuries I received from my battles. My first thought was to kill Falcon for the humiliating defeat I suffered by his hands, but I realized that I needed the Power Stones again so that I could rule this world most of all. In the process, maybe I can kill him. Need to take this one step at a time, after all."

Rouge began to wonder just what all this Dark Stone could do... it made her quite worried. What exactly was this thing? What power did it possess? And the mention of a voice only fueled her worry about it... however, the thoughts would be broken by the sound of Valgas's voice.

"Now then. Give me that Power Stone... give it here, and I will let your friend go. Don't try anything funny..." he impatiently said, reaching a hand out, "Give it to me. _Now_!"

Rouge hesitated for a moment before stepping over and handing the large gem to him. Valgas's eyes widened, gleaming as he held the stone in both hands, it's radiance shining over him as he stared at his reflection in the gem. As he held it, he could feel it's intense warmth... the great magical power that resided in this stone.

"It's mine, at last... one of the Power Stones... haha... nuahahahaha! A mere stepping stone on my path to conquest..." Valgas laughed, salivating in the hunger for power, so much so that drool was forming out the corner of his mouth.

Rouge then coughed, "You promised you'd let Ayame go," she then said, "...so let her go. Untie her."

"Y-yeah! Untie me!" Ayame echoed, "These ropes are hurting and chafing..."

Valgas grinned devilishly, revealing those horrible fangs of his after he wiped the drool off with his arm, "Ahhhh, yes. I did mention an exchange, didn't I..." with that, he reached into the holster that held the gun he carried with him at all times, and pulled it out. He then aimed it at Ayame, and seeing this, she let out a gasp, and then desperately began wriggling around in the bonds that held her to the beam.

"Wait... wait! Valgas!" Rouge cried, "I gave you what you wanted... you got the Power Stone. What more could you possibly want?"

"Hmmm, I had another flashback. You guys did your part to help Falcon kill me, didn't you?" He then said, his finger on the trigger as he pulled his thumb down against the hammer on the back of the pistol, the sound of a loud click echoing through the room, "...you know... I distinctly remember hating your guts too. And I never exactly _promised_ I would let her go alive, now did I?"

"You...!" Rouge growled, clinching her fists as she turned to him, "You coward! To shoot someone who's helpless...!"

"Nuahahahaha!" Valgas laughed wickedly, turning the gun to Rouge. As he did, his men did the same, all aiming their guns at the gypsy, "I think I'll just kill you both right here! It'll make sure I have even less to deal with once I'm fully recovered. Two less flies in the ointment," he then proceeded to slowly pull on the trigger, and Rouge, realizing she was trapped by the guns pointed at her, clinched her teeth in frustration.

"You won't get away with this!" she shouted.

"Argghh, why do you heroes always say that?" Valgas grumbled, "I hate that line!"

Suddenly, in a flash, there were several shots that rang out throughout the room! Rouge gasps, crying out, already expecting the bullets to pierce through her body... but none did. Rather, these bullets came from another direction, and each one hit it's mark, right on each gun held by the three men in the room, and making Valgas yell out and hold his hand as well as his henchmen, growling furiously.

"What... you... but... I told you to come alone!" Valgas yelled in shock and bewilderment.

"Huh?" Both Rouge and Ayame turned to the shadows, where the outline of a man can be seen... Rouge immediately realized who it was, but Ayame wasn't sure.

"It's not polite for a man to double-cross a lady," said the mystery hero, "Let alone truss one up like that. You really need to work on your manners, amigo..." The man then jumped out of the darkness and landed nimbly in the light before standing up straight. To the girls' surprise, it was Accel himself! But how'd he find out where Rouge was going? He simply tailed her in secret, keeping up with her on his Thunderbolt Rider, a specially made mechanical horse that was capable of quick movement through hovering, thanks to specially designed rockets in the legs of the machine... and he had slipped in undetected during all the conversation.

"Accel-kun!" Ayame happily said, beaming, "What a sight for sore eyes, huh?"

"Accel!" Rouge said, "I told you I was coming alone..." and then with a smile, she nodded, "But I'm glad you came anyway."

"Shoot!" he replied, scratching the back of his head with his gun, "No problem, Rouge. I'm just doing what's right."

Valgas fumed at the unwelcome newcomer, growling angrily through his teeth, "Damn you!" he said, before turning his sight to his men, "Don't just stand there, you morons! Kill them!"

Both of the henchmen reached into their trenchcoats. One man pulled out a pair of vicious looking machetes and held them tightly by the hilt in each hand. The other man reached in and pulled out a morning star, and began to swing it around over his head, chuckling wickedly. Accel chuckled at the men's attempt to intimidate them and spun the gun he still held around his finger before holding it tight and still in his hand, "So your boys have other armaments?" he said cockily, "Awesome. It's not gonna help you, though... not when I'm the one who's gonna serve you a slice of Justice Pie!"

"Justice Pie? What the hell is that?" Valgas asks, raising an eyebrow.


	4. Battle with Valgas

Valgas had commanded his men to attack the heroes who had come to save Ayame. It seems now, his entire plan was falling apart, thanks to the efforts of this renegade cowboy who stuck his nose where it didn't belong. It was making him angrier just thinking about how this was getting worse. Just his luck for things to turn out this way when he was so close to getting the stone. If he had just shot Rouge and Ayame without deliberating, this could have been prevented. Already he was searching through his mind to try and find a way to salvage this plan, and in the meantime, he barked out an order to his men...

"GET THEM!" he yelled.

The man with the morning star in hand charged at Rouge, swinging the spiked mace at her head. She nimbly ducked under it, however, before it could strike her, and she moved majestically off to the side, and then unleash a powerful flipping kick into him, sending him crashing back-first into a wall nearby. The man with the machetes was proving to be a more formidable foe, as he was quite fast with the blades and was capable of deflecting each shot Accel made with them.

"I'll be monkey's uncle, you're tougher than you look," he said, clinching his teeth out the corner of his mouth, "never seen a man wield blades that good. Well, except this one crazy fellow in bandages."

"Who?"

"Dunno the guy's name, but I guess that's not important," the man then came rushing at Accel with the large knives, who reacted quickly by leaping over him and twirling through the air with amazing grace. As he flew through the air, he pulled both his pistols out from their holsters and shot multiple bullets at a certain target. With the skill and precision of a crack shot, he managed to shoot off several of Ayame's key binds, allowing her to free herself with some struggling around.

"Ah... I'm free!" She pulled herself out of the ropes and massaged her tired wrists as Accel landed on his feet, "Thanks Accel-ku—"

"Hey, look out!" He yelled, seeing Valgas rushing at Ayame. Despite the fatigue in her body, she managed to backflip away from his fist as he rushed in with a powerful swing... he cursed at missing his mark, and then noticed something out the corner of his eye... the Power Stone! In his haste to try and kill the heroes, he had forgotten that he had dropped it in the moment his gun was shot out of his hand. On the other end of the room near him was the pistol he always carried... he was faced with a decision. If he didn't get the Power Stone, one of the heroes would. And if he didn't get his pistol, he wouldn't gain an advantage.

He wasn't even sure if his body could handle a full transformation right now, considering he still had wounds to recover from. The Dark Stone didn't exactly heal him when it restored him to life. He growled angrily at this frustrating position he was in... _Blast! If I get one, they'll get the other..._ he thought. He had to make a decision... desiring the power more than his weapon, he dove for the Power Stone...

...only for it to get shot out of his range by Accel by a bullet, sending it skidding across the room!

"Don't shoot it!" Rouge cried as she fought off the man with the morning star, "You might break it!"

"I had to get it away from him _somehow_ from here!" Accel shouted as he fought with the man he was facing. As the man charged at Accel, he nearly caught him off guard with a slash... he narrowly had time to get out of the way, but the blade did manage to cut him as he swiped it through the air. Fortunately, it was only a flesh wound.

Valgas swore he would get revenge on this cowboy later if he managed to beat these heroes, but for now, that Power Stone... he had to have it! He once again ran toward it, this time intending to pick it up as he was running by, only for Ayame to dive in and swiftly grab it before he can reach it!

"Give me that stone, kid..." he said, having stopped in front of her, advancing on her, "I'm in no mood to play games."

Ayame stuck her tongue out at him, "After holding me prisoner like that? No way, meathead!"

"Have it your way... DIE!" Valgas threw a powerful fist toward her, but she would dart away from him with the speed of a cat, and his fist smashed clean through the floor. After pulling it out, he would promptly chase after her for a while at first. He nearly would catch up to her, but Ayame would force from herself another burst of speed despite how tired and fatigued her body already was from being tied up for so long. Then he remembered his gun, and quickly ran toward it... he dove to catch it in his hands... only for it to be shot out of his range by Accel as well!

"Y-you!" Valgas stammered, his anger reaching a boiling point to where he almost fumbled his words, "...you're really pissing me off!" He angrily growled. He then proceeded to run over to the nearest gear, which was actually a very large one, and grabbed ahold of it, stopping it with his brute strength. He then growled, his muscles bulging and veins appearing as he started to use his strength to pull it out, feeling immense pain throb throughout his body as he fought with the gear's foundation... and to the shock of everyone in that room, Valgas, with a roar of rage and stress, practically tore the gigantic gear out of it's place, stopping Big Bill from doing it's usual job of telling the time!

"What in the name of heaven...!" Accel exclaimed, eyes wide in shock.

"How on earth...!" Rouge gasped, unable to believe what she just saw.

"...but... he's... supposed to be at his weakest!" Ayame shouted in disbelief.

"Rrrrr... RRRRRAAAAAAAAH!" Valgas then began spinning around with the giant gear in his grasp, building up momentum as he spun faster... he then let go of the gear, throwing it in Ayame's general direction, who gasps, and turned to run and get out of it's way. The gear came crashing down hard, shaking the floor, nearly smashing all the way through the floor, sending wood splinters, huge clouds of dust from on and under the floor, and a shockwave through the ground, throwing Ayame off her feet and high into the air, and, inadvertently, she let go of the Power Stone, letting it fly through the air!

"Iyaaaaaaaaah!"

Gravity would soon take it's toll, and pull Ayame down through the air. As she yelled out during her rapid descent, the man with the morning star, who was fighting Rouge, looked up to see her... "Huh?"

The thug soon stopped as well, and looked up with her. As he did, Ayame came crashing down, both their heads colliding with amazing force! The shock of her sudden collision and how hard she crashed into his head was enough to make the henchman fall over to the floor unconscious with a groan of pain. Ayame fell and hit the ground shortly after, dizzy, and with her eyes swirling around from the blow.

"So good of you to drop in!" Rouge joked with a smile.

"N...not funny..." Ayame groaned, holding her head.

Accel meanwhile, was still fighting it out with the machete-carrying-man, whose attention was diverted when he saw his ally get knocked completely out of the game by the falling kunoichi. This distraction was what he needed to land a definite blow. He swiftly rushed in, and unleashed a fierce body blow to the man's gut, following with a fierce side kick, and finishing him off with a brutal haymaker punch that threw the man swirling through the air and face-down on the floor. He let go of his machetes on the way down, and they promptly clattered to the floor.

"Tsk tsk," he wagged a finger back and forth at the fallen man, grinning, "It's not smart to take your eyes off your opponent."

And that left Valgas as the only baddie left to dispatch... something of which came to Rouge's mind, as she intended to make him pay for the problems he gave her friend. She looked around for a moment, trying to find him. That's when she spotted him, grasping the Power Stone that had been dropped, and attempting to head toward the elevator. She quickly threw flames in his direction, hurling them at the elevator door... the flames rose up like a barrier in front of Valgas, cutting off his escape, and he stopped dead in his tracks, looking over his shoulder at the heroes.

"Where ya goin'? You're the last person to dance with at this party," Accel said, slamming his fist into his palm as the three made their way toward him.

"You're trapped now, Valgas..." Rouge explained, a ball of flame in each hand she held at each side, glaring at him.

"Heheee~n! I told you that you wouldn't get away with it..." Ayame laughed, holding a kunai in her hand, ready to throw it at a moment's notice, "I was right, wasn't I~?"

"...!" Valgas drew back, clinching his teeth, sweating nervously... he was surrounded! He reached for his gun again, but only touched an empty holster, which widened his eyes in horror. Apparently, he had forgotten to go and pick it up during all the havoc and was now left without a weapon. _Damn it!_ he thought,_ I forgot my gun is still on the other side of the room... I forgot to pick it up!_ He then looked back to the approaching heroes who were ready to attack him, _What now? I can't let them take the stone! And in my condition, I can't fight all three of them at once... not with these injuries..._

"We can play this nice," Accel adds, "just give back that Power Stone and _maybe_ we'll letcha go..."

"Let him go? He's caused my friend grief. I say we beat him up," Rouge growled, anger in her heart at the way Valgas has treated Ayame, and for the fact he tried to kill her.

"...hrhhh... beat me up?" Valgas then said before he pleaded, "...no! I'm still recovering here! Would you really thrash around an injured man?" He looked around desperately for something to escape from. He spotted a window! But he was on the top floor of Big Bill, and it had to be at least 16 stories high... a fatal fall even for Valgas if he were at full strength. But he remembered he had the Power Stone... anything was possible as long as it was in his hands. He formulated an escape plan as quick as he could. But how to get away from these guys first?

He hoped this would work... despite the fact any one of these guys could attack him at any moment if he so much as moved, he risked it to rip off his shirt and the gun belt from around his waist and hurl them at the heroes, surprising them for a split second. He quickly dashed off toward the window as fast as his legs could carry him. Already recovering from the surprise, the heroes attacked! A bullet buried itself into Valgas's shoulder and a shuriken landed in his back. He managed to avoid the flame in time as he dove out the window with the Power Stone tucked under his arm, fighting the pain that coursed through his body from his newly made injuries.

"NO!" Rouge cried, running over to the open window with the others, "He's escaping!"

As they watched Valgas plummet to what seemed his death, he let out a laugh as he held the stone up and gazed into it, putting his heart into his request, "Give me the wings for which to fly with! Do it! Now!"

As he commanded, there was a glow of blue energy around his body from the stone as pair of large crow-like wings burst out from his back! Holding tightly to the stone as the aura faded, he worked to stop his fall and allow the wings to take over, spreading them out wide and changing his fall to a graceful glide, using his wings to flap through the air and soar high into the sky. He then laughs wickedly, glad his escape plan worked even though he didn't get away unscathed.

"Nuahahahahaaa! It worked! It worked! I'm free! And now, the Power Stone is mine! Ultimate power will soon be within my grasp once I gather the rest of the stones!" He chuckled, roaring with malevolent and excited laughter as he flew away.

"Aw, shoot!" Accel slammed his fist against the wall, "Mr. Bad Guy there got away!"

"Not yet he hasn't!" Rouge said, summoning her magic carpet, "We can't let him keep that stone! Come on, you guys!"

"Hoho! This is gonna be exciting," Ayame giggled, already leaping out the window and gracefully landing on the sturdy carpet that hung in the air, held aloft by a magical force, "besides, I haven't made him pay yet!"

Valgas was relieved... though a little annoyed. He would have some trouble getting that bullet out of his back. He figured he'd go see a doctor to get that removed. He didn't want to waste the power of the stone on something like wishing himself to be healed. He had big plans, after all... he still wanted to conquer the world. Restraint like this was necessary if he wanted to realize his dream. In due time, he'd make all the heroes who got in his way pay dearly for contributing for his first demise. And more importantly, he'd make sure he wouldn't get turned into a horrific beast again.

As he soared through the air, occasionally flapping his wings to keep aloft, he then felt an intense heat fly by him from above... this alarmed him, and he looked over behind him... his eyes comically bugged out as he saw Rouge, Accel, and Ayame, all three of them following him on the magic carpet, having quickly caught up to the former wrestler!

"What's it take to get away from you people?" Valgas cried, before turning his head back around and flapping his wings faster to try and gain speed.

"Oh, no you don't!" Rouge growled, commanding the carpet to fly faster to keep up, and charging up a flame in her hand, "You're _not_ keeping that stone!" She then hurled a series of flames at the man, with Accel firing his guns and Ayame throwing the occasional kunai or shuriken or two to try and pepper him with as much fire as possible.

Valgas struggled to move from side to side to get out of the way of the attacks and desperately wanted to get away... he grit his teeth hard, eyes wide as he furiously flapped the wings to increase his speed. He then attempted to soar in another direction while in the air, with the heroes in hot pursuit, and not letting up in their attacks. Things were getting narrow, however. As this attack continued, Accel soon found himself running out of bullets, and Ayame no longer had anything to throw at him.

"He's dodged all my shots!" Accel grit his teeth in frustration, "Crap! That guy can move fast! Doesn't help I couldn't get a decent bead on him!"

"I could barely hit the guy, he's jukeing and jiving around so much..." Ayame moaned, "We can't keep the pressure up on him anymore!"

Rouge nodded, exhausting from using up much of her magic power just to conjure the flames to throw at Valgas, "Even on the ground, he's fast. Even though he's burly, it doesn't slow him down at all. It was like that when he fought us long ago..." she then stood up and held both her hands up, gathering the rest of her power up into a large ball of flame, "...this has to work... it's the last of my power."

"Come on, strike true, baby!" Accel urged.

"Hnnnnn... HAAA!" Rouge then unleashed the ball with all her strength into the air, hurling it straight at Valgas. Thankfully, this time, the aiming worked out. Valgas, as he was attempting to move up, inadvertently slammed into the ball of flame, catching him abruptly off his guard as he felt an intense, burning pain scorch across his back. Not only that, but the wings he was using to keep himself afloat caught on fire, and were soon completely wreathed in intense flames, burning feathers being thrown through the air. As well, he had accidentally let go of the Power Stone, and it fell out of his hands and down through the sky.

"N-no, NO!" Valgas shrieked, swiping at the air in a futile effort to grab the stone. But alas, it was long out of his reach, "NOOOOOO!"

"Direct hit! Way to go, Rouge-chan!" Ayame cheered, pumping the air with her fist.

Accel waved his hat in the air, " WOO-HOO! We got him! You came through in the clutch!"

Valgas struggled to keep himself in the air, but it was no use... the wings were now damaged beyond repair and he began falling through the air, thick, black smoke and the smell of burning flesh following in his wake as he plummets, screaming the entire way, his world spinning around him so fast he had no idea what was going on. All he could do was just scream, "GUWAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

But, fortunately for Valgas, he was falling toward the waters near the docks where boats often rested at, and where some people would sometimes go to fish. One fisherman watched casually as Valgas came barreling through the air in flames and would land with a grand splash in the waters, his body slamming into it so hard it created a spectacular geyser upon landing and caused the water around him to ripple roughly for a moment before it settled down.

"Some people will do anything for a swim," he commented, before casting out another line.

But the stone? What about the stone? It was falling toward the ground, and from this height, if it landed hard enough, the force could shatter it! Rouge knew it would be useless if it was broken, so she daringly had the carpet nose dive toward the glowing stone to gain more speed, "Hold on!" She shouted, "Don't wet your pants yet!"

"Wet my pan—hey! What are you doing! Whoaaaaaaaah!" Accel cried, holding onto his hat as they dove for the stone...

"Go for it, Rouge-chan! You gotta catch it!" Ayame held onto Rouge tightly as they headed toward the falling blue gem.

They were getting closer to the ground as they desperately headed toward the descending stone. Accel was getting worried. If it was a bad idea to go after it in the end, they were going to slam into the ground so hard that they'd die from the forces of gravity and the physics that came with them. Not a way he wanted to go, especially when he felt he was still in his prime. He hoped his friend at least knew what she was doing.

It seemed like they were all ground to crash into the ground in a fruitless attempt to catch the stone. But thankfully, this would not be so; At the last moment, Rouge reached out and grabbed ahold of the Power Stone, and grabbed the front end of the carpet, pulling up hard to gain enough altitude for it to curve upward just inches from the street, surprising people as it flew straight ahead, and swerved around people and other vehicles just to get in the clear, with everyone else hanging on for dear life.

Eventually, the carpet would slow down and gain enough altitude to fly back up high in the air and over the town before they could crash into a coach, with all the passengers heaving a sigh of relief... they had their lives, and more importantly, the Power Stone!

"Thank the kami!" Ayame sighed, "We beat Valgas and got the stone... what a close call. Not to mention, you saved me in the process."

"How on earth did he get ahold of you anyway?" Rouge ask, holding the stone close, as though not wanting to let it slip away from her grasp and go through the process of diving for it again.

"I... I got careless..." Ayame sighed, rubbing the back of her head, "See, the story was that he was looking for you, so I followed him, and, um... and he wanted to kill you, so I thought of warning you. And I guess I screwed up."

"Well, don't worry to much. Nobody's perfect," the Arabic woman then smiled, "and we stopped him, so let's go home. Besides, that festival is tomorrow, and I need to prepare my tent."

"Phew, I'd say I'm lookin' forward to getting onto the ground. Riding my Thunderbolt Rider is more my bag, than soaring on a flying floor rug," Accel sighed with a grin.

Rouge then frowned, "I'm concerned, still. About the Dark Stone... what did Valgas mean when he said it spoke to him? And when it said that thing to him, about he still needed to play his role... what was that about?"

"W-well, um..." Ayame then clinched her fists, and tried to change the subject, "Why don't we worry about that later? We should be happy to stop evil from causing mischief, right?"

Rouge's train of thought broke, and she nodded, regaining her smile, "Ah, that's right, that's right. Let's get back down and worry more about having fun at the festival."

"Now you're talking!"

Down at the waters, Valgas broke his head through the surface, coughing and sputtering out the clear liquid, and rubbing his eyes to try and clear it from his sight, the magical wings having disappeared from his body due to the lack of the influence of a certain magical stone. He angrily looked up at Rouge and the others as they flew high overhead, and he rose an arm out over the surface to shake it in fury at the heroes and yell up at them...

"You'll all pay for this!" he screamed up at them, hoping they heard him, "This defeat means _NOTHING_! It's just a matter of time before I get another Power Stone to claim! And then you'll be dead, you hear me? DEAD!" With his plan failed, Valgas's first thought was to try and get the bullet in his shoulder removed and his new injuries treated.

While the heroes did hear him somewhat, they weren't paying much attention to him. For the events of this crazy day had come to an end, and everyone could go back to their business. Rouge had gone to prepare and asked Accel to help her in getting the tent ready, which he figured he might as well, since she said 'please'. And Ayame herself? She swore in her own mind to take her training a little more seriously so as to avoid winding up in this sort of situation again, and was looking forward to start once she got back home, at least until the festival started so she could regale people to make a little money.

Godspeed, Ayame. Godspeed.

**-FIN-**

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**A Word From the Author:**

That's it for my story. I admit that I'm not sure if my storytelling or writing is up to par, and as far as I'm concerned, this story is probably not all that good, but I hope that I have satisfied you in some way with it, as I tried to churn out something decent, at least. I hope to write another Power Stone-centric story sometime in the future, and it was fun to work on this one. Thank you for reading this story, you may leave any feedback if you wish, and I won't mind hearing from you. Feel free to check out my other work as well, and I hope we meet again...


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